Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lazy Days

I was supposed to be up and make the hubby something for breakfast and a lunch to go, but I didn't wake till around 9 am, I was supposed to be at the gym at 9 am this morning, but that didn't work out either.  So my being lazy put my entire schedule off today.  Now there are about 4 loads of laundry waiting on me, a kitchen to be cleaned after the kids made their breakfast of buttered cinnamon raisin toast and lunch of toasted turkey and cheese sammy's.  I will never understand how they can destroy the kitchen with such simply tasks. Floors to be mopped, clothes to be folded and put away and what-nots to be dusted.  Some of this may very well wait a day or so to happen.
 Tonight I am cooking chicken and dumplings with sweet peas and corn bread.  Its a weekday so no dessert, I have found that if I only make dessert on Sunday for dinner that it makes Sunday dinner more special and the rest of the week a bit easier.

Tonight's meal is a very quick fix meal and simple, yet one of those comfort foods that just makes a body feel all warm inside.  The peas are frozen and can be steamed in the microwave for a few minutes then tossed with a bit of butter.  Corn bread is made from a make your own copycat mix of a Jiffy Mix Cornbread.  The chicken and dumplings are a simple matter of pulling out 2 bags of already cooked and shredded leg quarter meat that was frozen last month.  Adding that to my roaster oven along with some homemade cream of --- soup mix and chicken stock , again frozen last month, once its all boiling nice then mixing up another copy cat recipe this time for biscuits and dropping the dumplings into the roaster with the chicken and broth by the spoonful, letting it all simmer for about 20 minutes and dinner is done.

Here are the three copy cat recipes that have made my life a million times easier.



Use in place of canned cream soups in casseroles or as a base for soups.

2 cups powdered nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup (or less) instant vegetable bouillon
2 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. basil leaves
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. pepper

Measure ingredients into a ziploc bag, seal and shake to combine

To substitute 1 can condensed soup.:

Combine 1/3 cup of dry mix & 1 1/4 cups of cold water in saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Add to casserole as you would canned soup.



2 cup Vegetable shortening
9 cup All-purpose flour -- sifted
1 tbsp Salt
1/4 cup Double acting baking Powder*
Blend all ingredients thoroughly store in tightly covered container. To prevent bugs, freeze for 24 hours. Use in recipes calling for Quick mix/ Bisquick.

2 1/4
cups Bake It All mix
2/3
cup milk

  1. 1 Heat oven to 450ºF. Stir ingredients until soft dough forms.
  2. 2 Turn onto surface dusted with  Bake It All mix. Knead 10 times. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut with 2 1/2-inch cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
  3. 3 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.





4 cups flour
4 cups cornmeal
2 cups nonfat dry milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all until well blended.


USE FOR CORN BREAD:
Combine
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine in 8" square pan while preheating oven to 425ºF
1 egg, beaten
1 cup water or milk
2 1/3 cup Mix

Stir just to blend. Pour into pan greased 8" round pan and bake about 18-20 min.


USE FOR MUFFINS: Prepare batter as for Corn Bread and spoon into 12 greased medium muffin cups.

USE FOR CHEESE CORN BREAD: After turning Corn Bread batter into pan, sprinkle with 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese


Sorry I dont have any pictures, I haven't made dinner yet, but maybe I can get a few snapped off tonight.

No comments:

Post a Comment